This Is My Kingdom Come
by TagTheScullion
Summary: Pirate!Percy Royal!Annabeth. Reckless decisions led to strange situations. Albeit Annabeth had joined reluctantly, she now admitted her adventurous errands with Captain Jackson and his crew were far more appealing than an insipid arranged marriage.
1. Let Us Begin With a Royal's Story

**Hello people, I am indeed back. This story is about Annabeth and Jason joining Percy's ship and crew. It'll be Percabeth, Jasiper, and some mentions of Thaluke and Solangelo (that's better said now in case you don't like one of those). It _is_ the revision of my other story, written properly and mostly before hand, as to avoid impossibly long waits between chapters. **

**I can't lie and say I won't take absolutely anything from Pirates of the Caribbean, given how it was part of my inspiration and one of my favourite movies. But the story won't be exactly the same, far from it.**

 **That being said, I hope you enjoy this very much, it's always nice to give others something to read :)**

 **PJO belongs to Uncle Rick!**

* * *

Annabeth smiled ruefully at life's way of twisting things around. She hadn't been born nobility, but few were the ones who knew and even fewer were the ones who dared mention how Duke Chase had taken in a hungry young lass fifteen years ago.

Her father had passed away mere hours ago. She had to admit it didn't come as a surprise to anyone. The man had been ill in a way which could only be described as terminal from the very beginning. Now, because of the lack of male heirs on her family, whatever titles or property the man possessed went to both her and her mother.

Including the task to find a fine suitor for Annabeth.

Now, being 20, Annabeth knew she'd been given more husband-free time than most, but regardless, the idea of becoming a man's property didn't suit her at all.

Albeit Annabeth's initial resolution had been to avoid her mother whenever she tried to start a conversation about the subject, she then realised that sooner or later she'd be wedded and that her immature attitude was only stressing the already distressed widow.

So it was that when the Duchess announced a ball for a few weeks' time, Annabeth nodded and smiled as honestly as she could manage.

And that's how she ended sitting in the docks at mid-afternoon, trying to read a book to throw her mind off other things.

As much as she wanted to be formal with the men who'd come from afar, they'd got on her nerves already. They were _everywhere_. She'd turn a corner and one or two were expecting a chat. She'd sit for a meal and find out her mother had invited a few of them to grace their presence.

She huffed out loud.

"I see I haven't caught you in your finest mood," a voice startled her. "I could come down here in a couple of hours and see if you have calmed down."

Annabeth turned to find a childhood friend of hers, and prince of her land leaning on the dock's railing. Jason was one of the few people she could tolerate as of now. He wasn't off limits per se, he was in line to the throne, but technically he wasn't to be king unless his elder brothers died or were otherwise incapacitated. Her mother and his parents didn't quite disagree to the match. Regardless of her general annoyance at her unfair situation, Annabeth had to admit Jason had never overwhelmed her and she found him a smart and polite boy with a fine sense of humour. If she ended up marrying him, at least she could count him as a friend.

She patted the space next to her, and Jason sat mirroring her position, his legs hanging off the dock.

"I thought my mother had only invited _men_ , not children," she said.

"Ah, yes," Jason laughed. "But she finds my father a marvellous dancer, something I'm aware I have _not_ inherited. And I just had to come if he attended."

She smiled.

"Do you remember when my father used to take us for short journeys on ships?" she asked after a small silence.

"Yes, it was rather entertaining," Jason nodded. "Until my father figured it out and forbid me from ever going on board unless accompanied with at least a regiment of armed guards."

"Why does he fear the sea?" she wondered.

"Something about his family," he replied. "He never speaks of it. Always keeps it to himself. And so does my stepmother."

"Do your siblings know nothing?"

He shrugged, "Doubt it," he said. "And if they did, they wouldn't tell me. They think me a nuisance."

Annabeth bowed her head. Jason's family was a bit of a taboo topic. He wasn't born into the crown as much as his father had taken a strong... _interest_ in one of his wife's ladies in waiting. King Zeus had claimed Jason, thus separating him from his mother and choosing to raise him a royal instead. He used to have a sister, but nothing was known of her because unlike the girl's brother, the king seemed to have little fancy for a female bastard. Her current whereabouts were unknown to both Jason and Annabeth.

They sat quietly for a good while until Annabeth realised that it was getting late.

"We should be going," she told Jason.

"Wait, look," he pointed towards a ship about a hundred metres away from them.

The ship had three masts, on them, pitch black sails waved lazily.

Annabeth and Jason got to their feet quickly and ran behind the nearest hiding place they could see. The crew of the ship hadn't seen them, it appeared.

One by one the crew members got down. A girl in her twenties caught their eyes. She was rather tallish, her dark hair tied in a small ponytail. She had a quiver full of arrows on her back and a bow in her hands.

As the girl turned around Annabeth saw Jason's mouth open wide. The girl's face reminded her of someone. Her eyes were similar to Jason's. Could it be?

Jason seemed to believe it was, indeed, his long lost sister. He made it to get up, but Annabeth stopped him.

"It's a ship with no flag, Jason," she told him sternly, her voice quivering slightly. "Do you know what kind of vessels has no flag?"

"But she..." he started. "It's her! I haven't seen her in years! I can barely remember her, but I know it's her!" he insisted.

"Jason, think. If you were to jump right now and run to her, what do you think would happen?" Annabeth asked patiently.

Jason stared blankly. Annabeth sighted.

"Do you see those guards over there?" She pointed at a pair of men on the ship. "They'll kill you, you have to plan this through..."

She gasped as she felt a cool blade pressed under her neck, and a hand on her shoulder.

"Plan what? An attack to my ship?" murmured a raspy voice to her ear. "I don't think so. If you will kindly come with me," the voice told her more loudly this time. "And tell your friend to keep that sword to himself. One move towards it and your head rolls."

Annabeth turned her head very slowly to see a young man with bright green eyes. A captain hat sat on his dark hair.

* * *

 **For all of you who came from my other story, thank you for sticking around. I personally despise it when authors do this kind of thing but I was a lot younger when I posted the original 'This is my kingdom come', and even more so when I begun writing it, so it had continuation errors, and pretty much a lot of ridiculous stuff going on. I hope this one you'll find better and like just the same.**


	2. Then We'll Continue With a Pirate's Tale

**Evening people, here I come with chapter 2 on this lovely Monday. Just kidding, Mondays can't be lovely. Hope you enjoy the story though!**

 **PJO belongs to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Percy walked towards his cousin.

"You stand guard, we won't stay long here, but I'd rather this goes smoothly," he stated.

"Sure will," Thalia answered with a smile.

Percy walked around giving orders to his crew. He wasn't a big fan of making stops, but they'd been caught in a storm a few days before and rations weren't particularly high.

A moment after he'd given the order to lower the anchor, he felt a tug on his arm. Turning he saw his cousin's shocked face.

"There's a couple of kids on the dock," she whispered.

Percy raised an eyebrow. Thalia was the best archer they had, why would a couple of children matter to her.

"If they know what's best for them, they'll leave and speak nothing of this," he answered.

"I'm not worried about the fact that there's someone," she shook her head. It's _who_ that I care about."

She led Percy towards the side, and pointed.

Percy could see a couple of blond teenagers, now poorly hiding behind a pile of wood leftovers.

"Do they know us?"

"It's Jason!" Thalia exclaimed. "My _brother_ Jason."

Percy stared at her in awe. How had she recognised a boy from this far? He didn't want to share his thoughts, but maybe his cousin was imagining things. Percy knew she felt guilty about leaving her brother behind. What's more, she wasn't often heard talking about the boy, she hadn't mentioned to him for the longest time.

"Once we get a clearer view," he decided. "And we know it's him for sure, we'll see what to do about it."

"We can bring him here!" she said. "It'll be good for him."

"And what about his friend?" Percy asked heavily. "We don't know who she is, and we can guess what she'll think of your kidnapping idea."

"It's not kidnapping," she cried disbelievingly.

"What isn't?" came a voice behind them.

"Ah, Luke," Percy said, turning to his lieutenant. "Our dear Thalia wants to take those two kids over there on-board, and keep them."

Frowning a bit, Luke said to the girl, "I'm sorry but that does sound a lot like kidnapping," he agreed.

"I don't want to _keep them_ , I want to offer them the choice to stay," she explained. "There's not even a _them_. Just Jason."

"Jason?" Luke inquired, bemused.

Thalia rolled her eyes, "At least consider it," she begged Percy, and left to get ready.

* * *

Once Percy was walking the port he couldn't help but be drawn near the couple of kids. Seeing them up close, he had to agree they were more like young adults than children, as he'd initially hoped.

One of their comments made him stop in his tracks, _They'd kill you, you have to plan this through._ Excuse him, but no one talked in such a suspicious manner about his people.

Taking them in had been too easy. Percy told a couple of his crewmates to lead their captives blindfolded towards his cabin. He hoped they treated the teenagers right, were the boy to be Jason, Thalia would have Percy's head if he allowed the kid to be handled poorly. _Also,_ the other side of his brain thought. _That they won't be too lenient on the kids, let them know this is no laughing matter._

As soon as they were left alone, with the exception of Luke, Percy took away the cloth covering their eyes. He saw how the girl's eyes flew everywhere, trying to take everything in. The boy, on the other hand, stared intently at him. If Percy didn't have years of experience on the boy, he would be output by such a hard stare on one so young.

"Tell me then," Percy spoke clearly. "I want to know what two socialites were doing hiding behind barrels and whispering about planning."

Jason glanced at Annabeth. Percy smirked, that meant she was one to look up to in times of trouble.

"We were not going to attack, if that is what you think, Mr..." she started reluctantly.

"That's _captain_ , to you, love," he smirked. "Captain Jackson."

He saw her frown, so she didn't believe he could be the captain? Who did she think _she_ was, to judge _him_ like that? _No,_ he thought, _it's not that. She knows the name._

"Does it sound familiar?"

"No," she answered a tad too quickly. "When are you to let us leave the ship? I have told you already, we were planning nothing. You cannot possibly benefit any longer from our capture."

"That's where you're wrong, love," he shook his head smugly.

"Stop calling me that," she spat.

"Do tell me your name, then," he ordered. "And your companion's. The boy seems rather shy, doesn't he…?"

"Boy?" Jason scoffed. "You cannot have two years on me."

"My apologies," said the Captain sarcastically. "This Lord over here is a grown man. So tell me, what is your name?"

The two captives eyed each other. Apparently coming to a silent agreement.

"I am Annabeth," she girl said. "And this is Jason."

Bingo, it _was_ him. Thalia better kiss his feet after this, he was dealing with a couple of horribly boring children, and he couldn't stand how impolite the girl had been so far. Then it dawned on him. Annabeth wasn't a particularly common name, he only knew of one person called that.

"We've hit jackpot then," he smirked. "A little prince and duchess, right?"

He saw Luke mouth the word _search,_ from his place next to the door. Yes, dear Uncle Zeus wouldn't be pleased to know he'd taken his remaining son. Nor would Annabeth's family, most likely. But now that he had his cousin under his tutelage again, he couldn't help but wonder, what if they could show him what a good alternative this was. Jason wouldn't have to go back. He had his sister here. And as for Annabeth, ransom would be a nice profit in those difficult times.

"Our families will come after you," Annabeth warned him. "They'll worry if we're not home by sunset."

"Yes, _love_ ," he agreed. "I know. That's all part of it. We could do with a bit of running from the royal navy."

Annabeth and Jason stared at him in disbelief.

"Plus," he added as an afterthought. "By that time, we'll be beyond the horizon."

With a shudder, he felt as his crew freed his ship from the restricting anchor, and the vessel started moving. Taking a last glance at the new residents of the ship, he stood and left the room.


	3. Adding Some Background Never Hurts

**Hello folks, the story might seems slowish so far, but I need pillars to build the rest of it, some more action will come. Any constructive criticism is welcome. And as always, I hope you enjoy!**

 **PJO belongs to Rick.**

* * *

Jackson let the man he'd talked to in charge of them. He was older than his captain, slightly taller, too. He was blond, and had a scar running down the left side of his face.

"What should we call you?" asked Jason at last.

"I'm Luke," replied the man. After a couple of minutes he seemed to soften a bit and added, "Percy won't hurt you, if you behave."

"What will he do with us?" Annabeth inquired.

"To be honest, I don't even know myself what he's planning with you," Luke admitted. "The Cap's a tough cookie to figure out."

"Why did you even take us in?" Annabeth insisted.

Luke stopped in his tracks, "Our captain thought you were planning against him and his vessel, it is fair of him to mistrust you and take you just in case."

"That is not all," Annabeth shook her head. "Was it even Jackson's idea?"

" _Captain_ Jackson," Luke reminded her. "He gives the order, where the idea comes from is none of our concern."

"Cut it," Jason snapped suddenly. "We _know_ my sister's on this ship."

Luke smiled, "So you did recognize her! She'll be glad to hear that."

"So…" Jason shrugged. "May we go and greet her?"

"Nope," the first mate denied Jason's request.

Annabeth was getting tired of this first mate. He had barely given them any information. He admitted having Thalia, sure, but that they already knew. And they knew the captain's first name, which was beyond useless.

She wondered where they'd send them once they finished talking. She had heard that prisoners went to cells where in merchant boats food was stored. She didn't quite like that idea.

After a while, Jackson reentered the room. He wore his hat again, and had an easy smile on his lips.

"I've decided you two can be even more useful than a naval race and a political dispute later on," he declared.

"You want money, too?" Annabeth deadpanned.

"Why yes, but that's not that hard to get," he cheerfully explained. "No, you're useful because of unfinished family business."

"Family? We're no family," Jason wondered. "You kidnapped my sister and now me? What do you want to get from that?"

"For one," Jackson stopped smiling. "I did _not_ kidnap her. She came willingly, because what did she have to lose? A father who didn't care for her, or a drunk mother who she had to look after?"

 _Low blow,_ Annabeth thought.

Jason frowned, but kept her calm, "Then what is it you earn from withholding us here?"

"Your father and I aren't on the best of terms," he explained. My unlcle…"

"Stop calling him that! We aren't family!" Annabeth had seldom seen Jason lose his temper, but this seemed to be affecting him a lot more strongly than she'd have guessed.

"You refuse to be my family and yet by blood you are my cousin," Jackson stated.

Jason's face went greenish, "It's impossible."

The captain shook his head, "Is your father an only child?"

Jason stalled for a second before saying with a shaking voice, "His brothers died."

"Did they now? Despicable even for Dear Uncle Zeus," the pirate mocked. "No, your uncles lived, kid. My father passed away last year, true. But he was well alive until then, I tell you. Have you never heard of how your father acquired his throne?"

"His siblings died," Jason muttered. "He was next in line."

Percy Jackson huffed indignantly, "What do they teach you these days... Your father got lucky and got a kingdom, my father got a boat, and Uncle Hades... he's of no importance as of now."

"Got?" Annabeth asked, expectantly. "You're looking for 'inherited'."

"No," the captain corrected. "'Got' is fine for this purpose. My grandfather isn't dead. He's exiled. He was a tyrant and a fool. His sons overthrew him, and in exchange divided what he had."

"That is..." Jason started.

"Hard to wrap your head around," the captain interrupted. "And yet it's true and the quicker you begin to accept it, the easier it'll be."

Jason looked down for a moment before he regained his composure, "Does my sister know?"

"Of course she does," he said. "Like I told you, she came willingly."

"Unlike us," Annabeth remarked. "It was a very nice and touching family reunion but you can catch up with Jason back home."

Jackson chuckled, "I'd almost forgotten about you. No, I won't go back, I rather like the sea, love."

"What will you do with us then?" she insisted. "Throw us in a dungeon to rot."

"As tempting as you're making it seem," he rolled his eyes. "I was with the idea of offering you two a deal."

Annabeth's eyes fixed on his _. A deal?_ That couldn't be good. Nothing nice ever came out of dealing with pirates.

"You can either 'rot in a dungeon', as you so nicely put it," he offered. "Or, you can join my crew under a life oath that no harm or resistance will come to said crew, my ship, or myself."

Annabeth stared. Join his dirty crew of mishaps? That was absolutely _out_ of the question. There was no chance that neither her nor Jason would take that. No chance at all. Or was there?

She threw a glance -making it as unnoticeable as possible- towards her friend. He seemed to be weighting the pros and cons of such an outrageous proposal. Why would he even consider...

Then it hit her, his sister was on that abominable crew. She's forgotten about that little detail. Now, Annabeth wasn't heartless. She knew that it might have been hard to assimilate to Jason that his big sister was under the influence of such people. But there had to be another way of seeing her. And even if she had known Thalia shortly, met her once or twice, and believed her to be a nice girl, her unwise life choices couldn't be the cause of bringing ruin to Annabeth's –nor Jason's- family name.

He threw her a pained stare full of regret and said, "Okay."

Jackson smiled, "Do you accept for the both of you, or just for yourself, little cousin?"

"Both," Annabeth muttered. She was going to regret her decision soon.

 _Still_ , she thought. _I could always stay long enough to convince Jackson's crew of mutiny against their captain._

"Perfect, then," their new captain exclaimed cheerfully. "I must go back to managing my ship so I'll fetch someone to show you both around."


	4. To Be Clear About Your Place Between Us

**Chapter 4 for you guys. Thanks for following, favourite-ing and reviewing. I hope you'll enjoy.**

 **PJO belongs to Uncle Rick.**

* * *

Percy took the precaution of keeping his newest crew members still tied to their chairs as he left to get some helpers. He'd have been a fool of allowing them too much freedom so soon.

Especially because he wasn't entirely sure about why Annabeth had given in without a fight. Joining him so soon? After the way she had behaved so far, it felt strange to him that she'd agree with Jason so easily.

Outside his door he found Luke keeping Thalia from barrelling into his cabin.

"You don't understand," she was saying. "He's there, after all these years."

"Yes," the first mate reassured her in a soothing voice. "And he's fine, but you have to be patient."

"Don't play with me, Luke," she scoffed. "I despise _being patient_ , so just let me in!"

"Not yet," Percy interrupted. "Wait a bit, let the whole shock wear off first."

"You," she said pointing at him accusingly. "Are being a jerk."

Percy would have given her some disgusting duty had she been someone else, and had she not been under such distress. But given that she was his cousin and was one of his oldest friends, he let it slide. She could have called him something much worse, Thalia wasn't one for light name calling. And their bantering wasn't new to anyone, they didn't exactly see eye to eye in everything, and they were both too stubborn to keep their opinions to themselves.

Luke took the hint that things might get too worked up. He took Thalia's hand and led her away.

"C'mon," he pushed. "Let's go for a walk."

"It's a ship," she deadpanned. "We have nowhere to walk."

"Let's just walk the ship then," he offered with a smile.

"Fetch me Leo and Rachel on your way, will you?" Percy asked.

"Sure, Cap'!" Luke yelled over his shoulder.

Percy, meanwhile, wondered if he was doing the right thing. He knew that as long as he had Thalia's support, Jason would be easy to keep. He was worried about Annabeth. That girl sure had trust issues. He'd been nothing but nice since she had arrived.

He knew she had been kidnapped and that probably didn't particularly ensure him a spot in her _Top Ten Favourite Pirates_ list, but it wasn't as if he was going to hurt those two.

Plus, being part of something bigger and less superficial than royalty and high classes would rub off the two kids. Well, kids... Annabeth had to be his age, give or take a few months. And yet he saw so much disinterest in searching for adventures in her eyes. Like she knew how her life had been set already, and changing her destiny wasn't worth the trouble.

Jason on the other hand looked solemn. If he'd been the blond young man, Percy would have tried and jumped off his chair to find his lost sibling. Then again, there was the possibility that Jason cared for his sister less than his sister cared for him. It was part of why Percy didn't want them to meet yet. He didn't want his cousin disappointed and upset because the kid didn't remember her properly.

As he entered the room, Jason and Annabeth shut up immediately.

"Not really subtle, lads," he teased. "C'mon, spit it, whatever you want to know, you can ask. As long as it's respectfully, of course."

"We were just saying," commented Annabeth. "Or more like wondering. Why did you let us join you?"

"You can be useful, if irritably close-minded," he answered swiftly.

"You do not know us," she frowned. "You have no idea of our abilities or lack thereof."

"Some philosophers and others who dedicate their lives to study human behaviour, out in the continent, insist that you can learn a lot of things in the first few minutes of meeting a person," he shrugged.

"Interesting, but fake," she said.

"If you _observe_ , love," he insisted. "You can actually see how a person is. Not everything about them, but at least an overview."

"I observe fine, thank you very much."

"Then you probably know enough about me, huh."

Jason watched them as they spoke, although his attention was obviously elsewhere.

"Don't worry, little cousin," Percy told him, with a smile. "I've sent for my first mate to fetch a couple of people to show you around. And after that, we'll see how to re-introduce you to your sister."

Jason's eyes brightened up considerably to these news. But still to Percy the boy didn't look quite as excited as he hoped.

"Stop trying to buy his goodwill," Annabeth ordered.

Percy sighed. He was done with her bratty attitude.

"Listen up here, love," he stated dryly. "I'll lighten up a few things for you. One, I don't like pulling the higher rank card with my crew, because they actually respect me and each other, but for your information, the captain orders and the others obey. _Not_ the other way around."

"I..." she started, but he cut her.

"Two, you might have had some sort of privilege inland, but in this vessel, you're worth the same as the rest of us, whether you agree, or not," he took a breath of fresh air. "And three, I don't buy your buddy's free will, or whatever fancy paraphrasing you used. I offered him the chance to speak to his sister who his father has kept away from him for over ten years, _savvy_ , love?"

Annabeth clenched her teeth but kept quiet.

" _Thank you_ , for listening now try to recall those simple instructions in the near future, will you?" he demanded.

She stared at him.

"I said, _will you_?" he repeated.

She nodded. Percy could see her eyes burning with contained anger, and her livid demeanour.

Just then a knock on the door told him his shift as a babysitter was finally over.

"Come in!"

Rachel Elizabeth Dare and Leo Valdez came in.

"You have called for us, Cap'?" Rachel wondered, titling her head.

"I have," he agreed. "Rachel, be so kind as to guide our lovely new recruit, Duchess Annabeth... what's your surname, love?"

"Chase," she fumed.

"Annabeth Chase around the ship," he finished.

Turning to Leo, he added, "Leo, same for his Highness, Little Cousin."

"Eh," Jason called their attention. "I'd rather go by Jason if you are all good with it."

Percy smirked. So he wasn't such a tough biscuit to break, after all.

"Welcome to Blackjack, the fastest ship in these waters," he told them as they were leaving.

Once they were gone, Percy reclined on his fishing chair. He utterly despised playing boss, but Annabeth's complete refusal to even _consider_ being nice got on his nerves. He hoped she was just mean to him and not the rest of the ship's population. His crew had nothing to do with her withholding and he honestly expected her to understand that.

Having cleared his mind for a few minutes he went above deck to check on things. Leaving the Stolls in charge was usually safe, but he never felt comfortable imposing helm duty to anyone. He knew first-hand it was enough pressure steering the ship for even the shortest while.


	5. Holiday Destinations: The Blackjack

**Here's where Annabeth tours the ship, I tried my best to inform myself about living arrangements aboard vessels back in those days, still I'll probably ignore a few things (like the nonexistent hygiene these guys had, and the fact that they didn't have a proper bathroom) and I'll just lessen the brutal conditions they went through, as it really does little to the plot.**

 **Hope you enjoy Chapter 5 :)**

 **PJO belongs to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

As soon as Rachel untied her from the chair, Annabeth felt a lot more comfortable.

She hated crammed spaces and the small cabin had begun to fill with people too quickly for her taste.

Rachel was a happy redhead. She had her hair tied messily in a bun and wore a loose shirt and leather trousers. She seemed very content with showing the new prisoner -no, _guest_ \- around.

"So Annabeth," she said. "How come you're here? The crew is dying to find out."

"Your captain thought it funny," she replied, curtly.

" _Your_ captain, too, now," Rachel reminded her, still cheerfully. "But what were you doing in those docks? If you saw the ship and they caught you, you two must've been nearby."

"We were resting," she shrugged indifferently.

Rachel gave her an incredulous look, "Resting? At a dock at twilight? Surely there's more to that. Unless you and Jason..."

"No nothing like that!" Annabeth's eyes widened, all intentions to be closed and humourless forgotten. What did this girl think of her honour? "Jason is but a friend to me, perhaps a brother of sorts."

"Spill then," Rachel smirked at her reddening face.

"All right, I was escaping my home," Annabeth admitted, finding no way off the topic. "Not forever. For a bit, at least… My mother she... well, my father died and it was high time I found a husband. Thus my mother made this event to invite bachelors. But I needed a break!"

"Marriage does seem like the end of the world, doesn't it?" she laughed.

"Are you married?" Annabeth wondered appalled.

"What? No!" Rachel chuckled. "But my father thought I should be and found me a suitor, and I rejected him and joined a ship crew instead."

"You didn't want to marry the man so you left and joined the pirates?" said Annabeth dryly.

"I did leave a note," she said thoughtfully. "He won't miss me."

"This is not what I imagined," Annabeth admitted.

"What did you imagine?" the redhead asked, with a knowing smile.

Annabeth shrugged, "A bunch of ferocious criminals escaping the gallows?"

Rachel laughed heartily, "I can't deny some of us have been caught in minor illegal acts. But no one has been condemned to the gallows, yet."

"Just wait until Jason's father figures out where he is," she deadpanned. "Are all outlaws like you?"

"No, no," Rachel shook her head. "We've met a lot of troublemakers. Some are despicable. The thing about this crew is that we don't murder unless we have to. We're mild."

"Then aren't you attacked by others?"

"Sometimes," she admitted. "But more often than not pirates protect other pirates. As awful as they might be, they'd rather attack merchants and flagships than us, I reckon."

After a second of pause she added, "Plus I said we didn't _like_ killing, not that we were unknown to it."

Following that cheerful note they walked around for a good half an hour. Rachel showed Annabeth were the crew mess was, what the different parts of the boat were called, and that the toilet (which she called head) was right beside the berth, which they hadn't yet seen.

They came across Jason and that Leo boy once, and Annabeth saw her friend talking animatedly with a copper skinned girl she hadn't seen before.

"That's Piper," Rachel said as they kept walking. "She's also rather new herself. And Leo, too."

"Who's been here the longest?" she asked.

"Well, this ship belonged to the captain's father," Rachel explained. "And back then the crew was almost another. Percy practically grew up in these walls, he's one with the vessel. Other than him, I'd bet it's probably Luke, the first mate, you've met him. Or Grover."

"Grover?"

"He's left for a while," the redhead shrugged. "He had to do I-don't-know-what inland, and took a leave of absence. He'll eventually come back, though. He's Percy's best friend."

Annabeth smiled, but then it faded. The way Luke and Rachel had spoken of Jackson, as if he was such a great person. To her, the man was if anything, a weird-minded convict. He was rude, inappropriate and ignorant. The way she'd imagined any pirate: egotistical, impulsive, and smug. He was less violent, perhaps, but he was still a nuisance.

Rachel was studying her face.

"Look," she said. "I can't convince you to like the Cap', but if you're staying on this ship, you might as well try to see what's good in him. He's not a cruel man. He's got to be tough here and there or no one would ever respect him."

"He took me away," Annabeth reminded her.

"But you were unhappy, weren't you?" Rachel said. "How about you think this as a new beginning?"

Annabeth shrugged. She missed her mother, and wondered whether they'd be looking for Jason and her.

"Come," Rachel tugged on her arm. "I'll show you where you'll be sleeping and borrow some new clothes for you."

The room was just a big space filled with hammocks. Many, many of those. Annabeth eyed them warily.

"Here's it," Rachel smirked, as if expecting some comment.

"Men and women sleep together?" she asked, trying not to sound too scandalised. "How... liberal."

Rachel laughed. "No," she said. "Guys sleep around the hallway. Although I can't neither confirm nor deny some rumours here and there."

The duchess raised an eyebrow. Fantastic, that was the second time in half an hour where the redhead had mentioned people sleeping around. She was surrounded by promiscuous misfits.

"And somewhere over here..." Rachel kept talking as she fumbled with the key of a chest, in a corner. "You're too tall to fit in my or Piper's clothes, but try these."

She passed Annabeth a shirt, a vest and trousers.

"Do you not have a skirt?" she asked politely. "I like them better."

"If you want to survive here," said Rachel. "Better wear something that won't get in your way in case of a fight."

Annabeth's shoulders dropped, "Where are the changing rooms?"

Rachel stared at her blankly, "I can turn around, if it makes you feel better."

Annabeth nodded reluctantly but didn't express her thoughts. Clearly Rachel was too loyal and proud of the ship. Were Annabeth to be honest about what she thought about the place, and people, and rules, she'd make an unnecessary enemy. Well, enemy was going too far. But definitely an unnecessary rival. And what she needed were allies.

One of the things Annabeth noted was that activity never ceased in Jackson's ship. People walked here and there, and nobody seemed to question it.

"Isn't it late?" she inquired as she finished changing.

"If you're tired we can continue your tour tomorrow," Rachel offered. "I have early duty anyway, so..."

"That is not what I meant," Annabeth shook her head. "But I wouldn't mind some dinner."

The redhead smiled, "I'll get you something, though usually we're strict about food. Remember we're on a limited ration, and stuff. Nautical rules and all, you understand."

She nodded. When Rachel left, she sat down on the chest they'd taken the clothes of. She pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes. _What mess had she got into?_

* * *

 **Crew mess is some sort of dinning hall those old ships had, if they had any at all.**

 **And thank you** **to the guest who told me about the confusion with "sighted" and "sighed" last chapter, it's something I hadn't really realised until now! I've changed it, though, so thanks again :D**


	6. May Siblings Reunite

**Sorry for the delay, between this and that I haven't seen much of my computer since last week. Bit of a filler chapter, this one, to be honest. Hope you enjoy anyway.**

 **PJO belongs to Uncle Rick.**

* * *

Percy was talking to Luke about their new pal and gal when he saw a mane of red hair crossing the threshold of their galley.

"Excuse me for a sec," he told his lieutenant and ran after the girl.

"Rachel!" he called.

"Yeah, Cap'?" he heard her voice near the back of the room.

"Where's the Duchess?"

"She's resting," the redhead replied swiftly.

"And you left her there alone? Is that smart?"

Rachel huffed.

"I understand _her_ reluctance to accept our help after your very much _warm_ welcome," she said. "But if you chose her to be one of us, you should start trusting her at some point."

"Yes, _at some point_ being the key words," he nodded. "Not right now, for all we know she'll blow up the ship."

"I don't think she knows how to use gun powder, or any type of cannon for that matter," Rachel shrugged. "I'll just make her a sandwich and go," she promised.

"Don't worry," offered Luke. "The worst she can do is jump off this ship, and she seems to like herself too much for that."

Percy shrugged. He wasn't worried about the girl, but if she laid a hand -or gods forbid something sharp, like a sword- in one of his crew, it'd be indisputably his fault. He allowed such a person to join, and it was in his hands if that turned out for the worse.

He wondered for the thousandth time that night why he'd insisted on keeping the two lads. Jason deserved to know about them: his sister and cousins. He was oblivious to all that mattered. In Percy's mind, where the boy to wish to return, he'd allow it, but only after Jason knew everything.

And there was also his Uncle Zeus to consider. That blasted man had done naught but insult and harm Percy's close family. A part of his brain, that Percy tried to raze, actually wanted to confront the King. Let him know that he was no match for the feared Blackjack. Put the man in his place for once and for all. The other part felt guilty about wishing to endanger his whole crew for the sake of a selfish bite of revenge.

And to think that, at first, the fight had been between Percy's dad, Poseidon and his uncles Zeus, and Hades. Then, it had begun to escalate. Percy hated being a pawn of someone else's game, but without his dad around anymore, he'd had to step up to his place and fill shoes that where too big to fit him.

When his cousin Thalia had run away, tired of the unfair life as an unwanted child of a master and his servant, he'd insisted for his dad to take her in. The older he got, the more Percy fathomed that Poseidon's true wish was to mock his brother. He had achieved the respect of his little niece -something the girl's own father had failed to do-. Poseidon's gratification with this led Percy to realise how egotistical his own flesh could also be when it came to hurting his close relatives.

He had sworn he wouldn't make his father's mistakes, he wouldn't stoop as low, and there he still was, hoping his uncle would react aggressively to excuse his own desire to attack.

Speaking of which, he knew he had to find both his cousins. He had left Clarisse to look after Thalia so she wouldn't barrel into her little brother's path. But even Clarisse La Rue had limits.

" _Percy!_ " Luke's voice called.

"Sorry, what?"

"Are you okay?" Luke asked with a worried glance. "I called you twice already... Jason's here."

Percy turned to face his cousin, who looked about as comfortable as a bee under the sea.

"How did the evening go?" he asked, trying to sound encouraging.

"Fine," Jason replied. After a small hesitation he added, "Leo and Piper were very nice and proper with me."

Percy smiled, "Yeah, they're nice lads. Well, kid, a promise made is a debt unpaid. Wait here."

Percy left the gallow to find Luke standing just outside door.

"Go find Thals, won't you?"

He nodded and left. After a while, he returned with an impatient looking Thalia.

Percy was about to open his mouth but she just kept walking, slammed the door open and ran to hug the lights out of her brother.

"You've gotten so tall!" she said in a thin voice. "I'm so sorry I left!"

Obviously priorities were organised wisely in Thalia's mind.

Jason shook his head and hid his face on his sister's shoulder. Percy could see him shaking slightly and sniffing.

He was an intruder but he couldn't help but stare. His uncle had done this. It was _his_ fault Jason and Thalia had grown apart. Percy was done with Zeus playing God. He wanted his kid back? He'd better come and take him. Percy was _not_ returning Jason unless it was proven that dear Uncle Zeus cared enough for him, and that he'd have a chance to see his sister whenever he wished, and... at least four or five conditions crossed his mind. He wouldn't return Jason to that awful, cold household unless strictly necessary. Screw his promise to try and stop the hate inside his family; Zeus had done too much to be forgiven. The man wanted war? Fine, he'd have it.

After a few minutes of utter awkwardness on Percy's and Luke's side, the two siblings separated. Jason's eyes looked reddish, while Thalia looked mostly relieved, like a humungous weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Thank you," Jason told Percy shyly.

Percy smiled reassuringly, "Anything you need, little cousin. We are your family."

Thalia took one of her brother's hands, "I'll go to bed now. I've an early shift tomorrow. Sleep well, yeah?"

The prince hugged his sister one more time before she left. Luke followed her with a glance.

"You can walk her to her room," Percy smirked. "In case she gets lost, or something."

Luke rolled his eyes and shoved Percy half-heartedly, but left after Thalia nonetheless.

"C'mon, kid," Percy ushered Jason out of the door. "Let's get you settled for the night."

Percy thought of something to talk about to the prince, but he was beaten when Jason asked, "Are they seeing each other?"

"Luke and Thalia?" he weighted the question for a second. "It's nothing too serious, as far as I'm concerned."

Jason shrugged.

"Will I ever see my father again?" Jason asked after a brief hesitance.

Percy nodded stiffly, "Your dad would never let this slide, he hates me and wishes for any excuse to have me hunted down. And I think he'll want his son back."

Jason grimaced, "Is there no chance of this going peacefully?"

Percy shook his head, "I'm sorry, there's too much history between this ship and your father's men."

Seeing Jason's face felt Percy put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry too much about it, though," he added. "It's not as if I'd forbid you to visit him once in a while. Everyone here is allowed to see family were us to port in docks near their towns."

Jason gave him a tiny smile. _Better than nothing_ , thought Percy.

"Off to bed you go, then," said the Captain, pointing towards the males' berth. "Tomorrow you'll see how this is really like."


	7. Breakfast, Training, and Mistrusting

**Last chapter until January, I reckon. I'll be unable to use the internet for a bit after tomorrow and won't be able to update. I'll have more time to write drafts for the following chapters, though, which is good.**

 **Hope you enjoy! And have a happy holiday (whatever it is you celebrate) :D**

 **PJO belongs to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Annabeth woke with someone poking her arm. She was tired, and hoped that if she remained with her eyes closed, she wouldn't have to wake up. She shifted uncomfortably. Where was he sitting? She turned suddenly and felt weightless as she fell to the floor.

She groaned. Someone chuckled. Annabeth's addled brain registered that something was unusual. The maid that woke her up seldom giggled so freely to her clumsiness, and if they did, they always apologised right after.

She creaked one eye open, and sat up quickly. This wasn't her room, and there was a person staring at her and...

 _Oh, right,_ she remembered moodily. _She was a slave to the pirate ship, of course_.

"Come on!" the girl looking at her said. "Up you go, Annie."

"Um..." her eyes took a little adjusting to the brightness. Luckily the portholes didn't allow too much light in at that time of the day.

The girl knelt next to her and her face got clearer.

"It's you!" Annabeth cried and straightened. "I fell asleep last night, but I..."

"Yeah it's me, Annie," said Thalia smugly. "I was wondering whether I'd seen the last of you yet."

"Not that easy to get rid of me," Annabeth shrugged. "I take it you have greeted Jason."

Thalia nodded, her smugness being replaced by a hint of guilt.

"He's grown up so much," she mumbled melancholically.

Annabeth nodded.

"But my brother isn't really the reason for your early break," the brunette shook her head. "I've gone all out of topic again. We must start training you immediately."

At that Annabeth's eyes lit up, she'd been longing to learn how to defend herself for the longest time! And her mother had been most against it, of course. What kind of proper lady was seen sword-fighting around? She didn't care, however. She was going to learn and become the best, as with any other thing she put her mind on.

Her excitement fell a little when she realised the dishonest ways she'd learn. But fighting was fighting, it mattered naught where the skill was acquired.

Thalia stood up and helped her up.

"Jason's been telling me that you sometimes stole weapons from the armoury and practised," the older girl continued. "Real duelling isn't exactly the same, you see. But I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"But... But this is no place for sword practising!" Annabeth cried as they entered the crew mess.

"Practising without breakfast is a bad idea," Thalia explained.

As they walked about the few people awake at such an early hour of the morning, they went past Jason who was -to Annabeth's chagrin- talking animatedly to Captain Jackson.

Thalia ruffled her brother's hair and shoot a quick smile to the Captain.

They sat next to Rachel, who was doodling with graphite pencil on a roll of parchment. Annabeth was thoroughly impressed with the redhead's talent.

"Red, at this rate if the Cap' ever needs a diplomatic approach, we'll have run out of parchment," Thalia smirked.

"The only thing the Cap' needs in a meeting is his sword. He's too impulsive to ever require parchment."

"I thought you said you were peaceful!" Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Did I ever say 'peaceful'? If I recall correctly, I think I mostly reassured you that we don't kill for joy, Duchess," Rachel corrected, merrily.

* * *

After breakfast, Thalia took Annabeth to a relatively calm spot above deck. Annabeth's self-confidence wavered a bit when she saw various crew members observing subtly.

"We have to find you a weapon that fits," Thalia told her calmly.

She was shown a big chest full of differently sized weapons. She tried sword after sword, and even a heavy old pistol, but none seemed fit to her hand. Either too heavy, or too light, never balanced.

"Here," said a voice behind them. "Try this."

Thalia didn't even turn around and kept rummaging through the chest. Annabeth heard her muffled voice ask, "What have you brought for little Annie, Luke?"

Annabeth, who _had_ been startled with the man appearing behind them. Turned to see the lieutenant holding out a dagger for her to take. And she did. It was a big knife, gleaming and sharp.

"For the quickest fighters, Duchess," Luke explained. "You don't look that strong yet, so keep to your advantages. You're thin, speed is crucial when wielding a knife."

Thalia huffed, "Where were you for the last ten minutes?"

Luke threw her a sheepish grin, "Looking for you lovely ladies, of course. By the way, the Captain needs you for a bit, Thals. Said we should switch chores as of now."

Thalia rolled her eyes, but nodded nonetheless, "All right, then. See you later."

She hugged Annabeth briefly and kissed Luke on the cheek.

"So..." said she. "Do you usually teach sword-fighting?"

Luke smiled warmly, "Don't worry, no awkwardness. If you have any questions just ask. I _do_ often teach fighting techniques. I love it, and pride myself a good swordsman."

"Are lieutenants not supposed to do...? I don't know, higher rank activities?"

"Nah," said Luke, with a playful shake of the head. "This ship has its own rules, and like I said: I'd much rather teach this than stare at maps and coordinates all morning."

Annabeth nodded, "All right so what do I learn today?"

"Posture," he stated.

"Sounds mediocre."

"It's the boring part, like in a book. You must read the first few boring chapters, or else you'd never quite get the setting of the story straight. Yet you'd be surprised as to how many people lack a proper dwelling stance," he told her as he positioned her shoulder's angle. "Even after years of practising."

"Okay, so I will stay standing still like this for the next few hours?"

Luke smiled patiently, and pushed one of her feet a few inches to the left with his own, "Nope, now you get to _pretend_ to stab me with a sword. So as to know where we're at."

Annabeth did so. Even to her it looked utterly clumsy. Yet he barely blinked.

"Not great," he admitted after a small pause. "But surely better than a few newbies we've had."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

Luke smiled, "Rumours say you're smart, Duchess. Try not to take everything people say too seriously. Now, don't grip the dagger too tightly, the slightest offset your enemy manages and you're done for it."

He took her hand and loosened her hold on the knife.

Annabeth was sure it'd been _hours_ when Luke called it off for the day. Yet it was barely time for lunch. She couldn't fathom how these people could roll on throughout the day!

Luke gave her a glass full of fresh water, "Take this and wash. I'll see if I can send someone to accompany you to lunch."

"I know how to reach the crew mess from the sleeping quarters," she replied curtly.

" _Sleeping quarters?_ " he made a face. "Such a nice name for it. _Too_ nice, don't you think?"

"It is Jackson's idea to have me followed, is it not?"

Annabeth felt slightly hurt. She hadn't yet done anything worth of mistrust. Thought about it? Of course, but her ideas she had kept to the safety of her own conscience.

"Given how you appeared rather reluctant, _Captain_ Jackson has decided you have still not earned his full trust," said Luke. "Don't take it personally, Duchess. What kind of leader would he be if he allowed you to roam free so soon?"

"He does not tag someone on Jason all the time!"

"Because Jason is tied to his sister," Luke explained patiently. "If he messes up, the ripple of his deed will find Thalia eventually, and he doesn't wish ill upon her. But you? We have no idea of your motives..."

"I joined because of Jason," she said mechanically. "I do not want to cause _him_ any issues."

"It wasn't just Jason," he shook his head, and then stared hardly at her face, as if reading her soul. "What made you choose this?"

Annabeth shrugged. To be honest, she couldn't even perch it herself. What made her join? At first her only occurrence had been to mutiny the captain of the ship. But she had to agree it was foolish. The shipmates were in utter admiration of Jackson or saw him as a brother of arms, if not of blood. And she had to agree they weren't treating her poorly, her excuses to excuse ill willed ideas were wearing thin.

"It was either this or the dungeons, most unfortunate that would have been."

Luke sighted, "If you keep behaving all right, Percy will soon believe you worthy of going all the way to the _sleeping quarters_ and back on your own."

Luke walked her to the washing rooms next to the girl's whatever-pirates-called-sleeping-places. He left her a towel, a bar of soap, and a bucket of clean-ish water.

"You're joking," she scoffed.

Luke shook his head, "No baths on a ship."

Then he said farewell and left her with her bucket.

* * *

As Annabeth crouched uncomfortably on the most hidden corner she found on the room, she felt like she had back at home when she had been a teenager. Her mother had insisted she be accompanied everywhere since her 13th birthday for reasons that were beyond Annabeth's understanding. Luckily back then, it hadn't lasted too much. She felt just as claustrophobic but at the same time she had to agree, as much as it pained her to admit she thought likewise to the cocky captain, that his thinking was logical.

If she herself couldn't properly give a reason as to why she had _really_ chosen to be one of them... how could _he_ figure out her intentions were -mostly- innocent.

 _No, they weren't_ , she was told by the rational part of her brain. _You wanted him gone._

Annabeth shook her head. Any kind of harm done to the ship or crew was unnecessary. She saw that now. She just needed Jackson to feel as miserable as he was making her feel.

* * *

 **Thank you for the reviews, if you see any spelling, grammar mistake or have any ideas you'd like to propose just say so!**


	8. That Boat on the Horizon

**Back from the semi-hiatus. For a bit. My holidays perdure and thus there's more time to write, and less to post online, some cruel irony, that is. I hope you've enjoyed your winter break, or that you're enjoying your summer holidays :)**

 **Also that you like the chapter, interesting stuff finally begins.**

 **PJO belongs to Uncle Rick.**

* * *

Percy spotted the first hint of trouble early on the fourth morning henceforward the night he took the Prince and Duchess in. He hoped his uncle would offer a longer period of peace, but apparently, either his dignity or Jason meant too much to him.

There was a tiny shape in the horizon behind them. At first, Percy thought it might've been a blur of his own tired vision. He kept an eye on it, nevertheless, and as soon as his lieutenant appeared on the helm, he asked.

"It does look like something, Captain," Luke admitted. "Although, I wouldn't be sure it's a ship."

"We'll let them catch up only enough so we'll know for sure it is the King's Navy," Percy commanded. "The second you catch the flag design you order full speed and call me back up here."

Luke nodded; Percy caught a shadow of doubt cross his marred face.

"No need to worry, we're the fastest ship in these oceans."

"We'll have to dock eventually," Luke stared at him. "Is it wise to let them come too close?"

Percy shrugged, "What's life without a little adventure?"

* * *

The captain took upon himself the sacrificial task of teaching the Duchess.

It appeared to him as if she'd become even worse during the night. Luke had promised the day before that the Duchess now knew the basic stance. Well she plain didn't.

Several snarky remarks later, and after a lot of Percy's reserve patience had been wasted, he realised it was all a big pointless act. She _knew_ she was doing this wrong, and just wouldn't take to his suggestions.

That pissed him off.

"Is this funny to you, love?" he snapped. She frowned at the diminutive nickname.

"I thought you liked this as a game, _Captain_ " she replied swiftly. "' _We could do with a little running from the royals'_ , were your words exactly."

Percy tried to think rationally. This girl wouldn't budge because of threats or brute force -which he wouldn't willingly use on crew members, even if dealing with unlikeable ones-.

"Do as you wish," he said at last. "But remember that now you're one of us, and whenever your pal the king finds us, he'll judge you for it."

"His Majesty knows me," she huffed. "He will treat me like he always has."

"No, love," Percy smiled. "Last time we met, he blatantly ignored his own daughter and tried to capture us all. His own blood, we're talking about here, so he'll never spare _you_ a second glance, and when I'm proved right, you'll regret being rubbish at this."

"It's not the same," she murmured. But she stopped boycotting her sword-fighting class.

* * *

Not half an hour after he'd left the Duchess Percy was ambushed by Jason on the way out of his cabin.

"Do excuse me," said the prince. "But there is a little uncertainty above deck."

"The ship's close enough to see the flag?"

Jason nodded, "Please don't underestimate my father."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Percy grumbled. "Tell the Lieutenant that I'm coming."

"He ordered us to go quicker. Said it was what he'd been told by you."

"Yes."

"Do you think there is absolutely no chance of avoiding armed confrontation?"

"Have you met your father?" Percy asked heavily.

Jason shrugged. For a second, Percy tried to imagine what it would've been to know you were in an armed group against your own dad. Jason had to be struggling with many things, pacifying King Zeus was something many had dreamt of but seldom had been managed.

"Is it not worse to face a legitimate navy while armed?" the prince asked.

"Look," Percy tried to sound as sympathetic as possible. "I can't risk the safety of the whole crew over the hope that your father will accept peaceful terms."

Jason nodded with just but a small hesitancy, "I just... hoped," he admitted bashfully.

Percy really hoped it wouldn't come to a confrontation this soon. He needed a plan, and more time for his cousin and the Duchess to get used to him and his crew. The way things were at the moment, he had no idea which team Jason would play for.

As for the Duchess, she'd stab them whenever the chance raised. His little pseudo threat about King Zeus showing her no mercy wasn't a complete lie but wasn't honest either. Percy was sure Zeus _would_ spare the girl a second chance, especially since it was quite probable a match had been arranged between her mother and the king for the betrothal of Jason and Annabeth. If that were the case, the Duchess would soon enough realise she wasn't in any danger with the royals and would probably act on it.

On deck, he took the wheel from Luke and asked him to tell the men to arm themselves as inconspicuously as possible. The Blackjack was unbeatable in speed, and there were only two vessels following them, but the navy could've set a trap on them.

It was a leap of faith to hope for a quiet passage. But the crew could handle the canons quick enough if things went horribly wrong, thus he insisted on the crew showing as few weapons as possible. Being overrun by ammo would do them no favours. It would only give Percy's uncle an excuse, were the king to shoot someone unprovoked.

As the sun was setting down, Percy began to relax. The kingdom ships couldn't be seen anymore. They were nearing some scattered green islands, with rocky cliffs instead of beaches.

"Now we _know_ they're after us, huh?" said the last voice the captain would've expected.

"Yes, love. Exactly," he replied. Turning around he faced his least favourite crew member.

The Duchess smiled smugly, "I've been thinking about your _encouraging_ comment this afternoon."

Percy took in a deep breath. This girl came to bloat about his paraphrasing, how inadequately superficial at a time like this. She couldn't possibly be _that_ happy about the potential endangering of the crew. Sure she despised him in particular, but she wanted everyone dead?

"In the heat of the argument I let a little detail slip," she admitted. "They think we have been kidnapped!"

"If I recall correctly you chose joining rather than being 'kidnapped'," he remarked.

"Well then, I will be blatantly honest," she exclaimed heavily. "I will retell my tale of how my curiosity got the best of me. And how terrified I was of the mistreating prisoners suffer in ships such as this."

"And I'll appeal that whichever the reason, law must abide to everyone the same," Percy grinned. "You joined willingly, be it the consequence of curiosity, fear, or plain idealism. Therefore by the law ridging on King Zeus' kingdom, your penalty is death by hanging."

He shrugged as if to say, 'Terrible business, really.'

She huffed indignantly. She was about to retort something aggravating, Percy was sure, when he heard the very much known sound of a canon whistling through the air.

"Down!" he yelled, pushing the Duchess onto the ground with him. The projectile punched a hole in a railing behind him. Turning to the right he saw a vessel advancing through the canal made between two small islands.

"What was...?"

But the blonde's question was subdued by his rapid shooting of orders.

"Grab your weapons! Man the canons!" he screamed. "We're under attack!"


	9. We'll Call This A New Beginning

**Yes, I'm updating quickly, the universe must be close to its end! I don't know whether I'll be able to update much more until mid/late February, perhaps I'll manage another chapter next week, but I wouldn't swear upon it. Hope you enjoy, and that you can forgive this strange itinerary I seem to be having.**

 **PJO belongs to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Annabeth was scared for her life and terribly bemused. The mayhem on deck mirrored the turmoil in her brain. A cannonball had almost smashed her head. She hadn't quite grasped the level of danger she was in until now.

With an angry, "Take cover!" Jackson had run off yelling to his crew members under the sound of the other ship's offensive.

She was wandering aimlessly, trying to go downstairs when a firm hand pulled her to the side by her arm. It was Luke.

"Go downstairs to the captain's cabin and wait for Jason. Once the two of you are there, lock the door."

Seeing her doubt he shook his head hurriedly.

"These aren't the King's men, this is bigger than you know, or I have time to explain right now."

She nodded repeatedly and ran to the door.

Annabeth found Jason running towards her below deck. He looked reluctant to be there.

"This is cowardice," he fumed as he accompanied her to the captain's lodgings.

"We cannot fight with them!" Annabeth cried. "These men don't fight fair, Jason! They murder and harm beyond necessity."

 _And they're not_ our _men we're defending,_ she thought plainly.

It was a compelling argument until the ship jerked to the left and the side of the room exploded. A faint salty breeze caressed Annabeth's cheek as she stood in a daze and looked around. Another ship was coming from behind them.

"We must warn them," said Jason standing up beside her.

She couldn't deny it had now become her fight too.

They ran, skiving over hurt bodies, and dodging arrows and bullets.

"Cap'!" urged Jason.

The man turned, his brow was bleeding, but his face was determined.

Jason pointed towards the other ship and Jackson swore.

Annabeth turned in a circle hoping to find some way to help. She didn't sword fight properly, not yet. She needed to use her head.

She looked ahead and saw that there was an island straight ahead, the river-ish water they were in ended abruptly and a much faster and murkier current crossed it.

"Turn right over there!" she told the captain, pointing towards the current. "If it ends in the ocean, we can escape!"

"Yes," Jason said. "You said we're the fastest ship, we can just reduce the time we spend fighting them!"

Jackson nodded and told one of the two Stoll brothers to take the wheel. She still had trouble deciding which one was which, even if not twins, they were really alike...

She caught her train of thought and focused on the task at hand. She ran after Stoll.

"Try to turn as closely as you can manage," she suggested.

He raised an eyebrow at her, it was Connor, she realised. He had a little cut under his nose.

"This boat is much lighter and quicker than the one behind. The current will push us more easily."

"And the one _next to_ us?" he asked worriedly.

Annabeth cursed in her head. The ship beside them must've had the same idea as them, she realised. For they could also see the change in the water.

"Let's just get away from them," she said at last.

The manoeuvre was tough, and the turn was so acute she wondered how they didn't turn around by the sheer force of action. The ship next to them managed to turn, albeit in a weird way which got itself stuck between some rocks.

The one behind them wasn't so lucky. Their vision was lessened by the Blackjack, thus they couldn't see much far ahead. They tried to turn in the last minute, but, just as predicted, their weight slowed them down. With a satisfying crunch, they hit the cliff of the island.

The first ship got blocked by the wreckage of the second, giving them more than enough time to withdraw from sight.

* * *

Once away from the archipelago the captain went to find her. She was retching to the side of the ship -too much excitement for her already queasy stomach-.

"Thank you," he said. And to Annabeth's great surprise, he seemed honest. "The fight wasn't going as well as I hoped."

He gave her a cup of watered tea.

"Who were them?" she asked, for once with true politeness. "Luke said they were not the King's. They were vicious."

The captain sighed, "It's a long story. Not one I wish to worry about right now."

Annabeth wanted to tell him that considering the last thirty minutes, not _wishing_ to worry about whoever these people were was pointless and dumb. She said nothing to keep the momentary truce they were having.

"They're my father's enemies," he explained, guessing her thoughts with a small smile. "My father and my uncles pissed off a whole bunch of dangerous people."

"Do you know which of that bunch it was this time?"

"My grandfather."

"Oh," she tried to think of something to say. "Well..."

"Awful family, right?"

"I cannot imagine family dinners being very pleasant, no."

He chuckled. She grinned.

"Does Zeus know about his father lurking in the dark corners of his kingdom's sea?" she wondered, a tad more serious.

"He likes to ignore a threat as long as possible, Uncle does," Percy shrugged. "I just hope he won't give us too much of a hard time because of Jason and you..."

"We will tell him we came willingly," she decided. "I do not think he'll care that much, really."

Percy gave her a small smile, "I did not mean you were an issue. But if Uncle's anger clouds his judgment, he will deny any action be taken against _dearest_ grandpa."

"Jason could try and convince him," Annabeth reasoned. "After all, the man tried to kill him, and an assassination attempt to the royal family is high treason."

Percy thought for a second, then nodded.

"You might yet be useful to us," he grinned teasingly. "As long as you use your head and not your fighting skills!"

"I'll get better!" she cried in mock indignation. "I'm a quick learner."

Annabeth saw the captain smile and turn to leave, but he swayed dangerously and gripped the railing.

Annabeth's eyes widened in horror, how long had Percy been bleeding? The cut looked shallow but if untreated it could end badly.

"Let us get you patched up before you get an infection," she said strongly.

She hesitated but then took the captain by the arm and led him off the main deck.


	10. All Hands on Deck, We're Taking a Break

**Yeah, February... Well, life got in the way. Particularly university. I really can't believe it's April already, I've developed an ability to procrastinate in absolutely every aspect of my life. But sad real life stories aren't what you're here for. Please enjoy the new chapter!**

 **PJO belongs to Uncle Rick.**

* * *

Percy couldn't deny that having the Duchess on his side was relieving. And enlightening.

She had begun to take her sword-fighting classes seriously, possibly because of the previous event, and she was indeed becoming better each day.

She also proved a valuable assess concerning tactical decisions. Her brain worked in mysterious ways, but it was surely a welcome second opinion. She could think objectively, and it led to wise choices on her behalf.

Three days he enjoyed the momentarily truce, until the small post they had been waiting for appeared, a tiny figure in the distance.

The Blackjack had taken an ugly hit and could withstand no more traveling without repair. This town was home to the best mechanic Percy could think of, and thus he found himself docking his ship one sunny afternoon.

"Nico," he called. "Fetch Beckendorf and show him what happened. We need this ship fixed as soon as possible."

The boy nodded and ran off.

"The rest of you," he pointed to the south. "Let's get settled, we might be here for a good few days."

* * *

The bar, which also served as a motel of sorts, was still not crowded. Percy guessed even thugs waited for the sun to set before drowning their troubles in various alcohols.

He knocked on the door marked for "personnel only", and walked right in.

"Why if it isn't Perry Johnson," a slurry voice sneered. "Oh, of course, it's Captain now, isn't it?"

"It's been for a while, Mr D," Percy smiled ruefully. "But thank you for taking notice. It's quite a feat for us sea people."

Another voice chuckled benevolently on the corner. A middle aged man stepped into the light and put a hand on Percy's shoulder.

"I have heard you have encountered some trouble with your Uncle, am I right?"

"As always, Chiron," Percy grinned.

Chiron was a tutor who had suffered an accident, making him incapacitated to move his legs. With the help of crutches he went on, but he had decided to abandon teaching to set a place, a safe haven of sorts, in this dingy outpost.

"I do wonder how you hear news so quickly," Percy asked. "After all, only my uncle and I know, and we have arrived not an hour ago!"

"I have my ways," the old man shrugged at ease. "Now come, my boy. I expect I'll be making a few rooms ready."

Percy gave the order for his men (and women as had been pointed out to him before) to take the night off. The crew was expected to return the following day at midday. Unless, of course some unexpected event required of their assistance.

As it was, barely after dinner, the Captain of the Blackjack found himself seated with the former tutor.

"I _didn't_ kidnap them!" he insisted as he recounted the events leading to hi ship's attack. "I made a deal with them."

"A deal? Is it wise to call it a deal when you cornered them into agreeing?" the man wondered, not unkindly.

Percy huffed. His choice of actions had already started to eat his conscience these past few days. He had ignored the bite of regret at first, seeing his new recruits happy had made him feel like they were there by choice, rather than obligation. After the attack he realised how dangerous the situation actually was.

"Point is," Percy continued. "That Uncle Zeus is after me because he couldn't keep his kid under control."

Chiron weighted the information for a few seconds, before allowing a fond smile to graze his lips, "You, and your cousins as well, have a certain knack to break the rules and follow your own paths."

The young man shrugged, "We don't like to be told what to do. But, Chiron, this is serious, my uncle I can deal with…"

"Not with both him and your grandfather."

Percy stared at him in disbelief, "How can you possibly know?"

"Like I said before, lad," Chiron smiled. "I have my ways. I can offer to pacify your uncle for a while. It might buy you a couple of days, at most. Your grandfather, though, you must face by yourself."

"All alone? He'll massacre us!"

"Then make a deal with your uncle. What's more, make a deal with _both_ your uncles. Then you will be powerful enough to face the old crook," Chiron suggested.

Percy tried hard not to roll his eyes, "You know perfectly well what they both think of me. They won't let me close to them, much less will they allow me to strike a deal with them."

"Perhaps not you in person, but you have ways to make you listen in your power," the tutor thought for half a minute. "Maybe talking about it as tools is wrong. Your cousins can help you, Percy. Don't try to hold the weight of the world in your shoulders, lad, it's all right to need help. In the meanwhile, there's someone who may be able to give you a hand."

That got Percy's attention, "Who?"

"Another of your _many_ relatives is around," the man pointed out. "She's the reason I know about your grandfather, she witnessed what happened, sought me out as soon as possible. I don't think she knew it was you who was attacked, that day."

"She came to you?" Percy asked, confusion shinning bright in his eyes. Then his eyes widened, "I didn't mean to say you can't do anything, it's just… you told me not two minutes ago that you couldn't help…"

Chiron chuckled amusedly, "I take no offense, son. She came here because… how did she say it?"

" ' _You're the only one who is bound to move a finger to stop this menace, any other person in this God forsaken family will ignore the threat until it's too late. It's the only thing they know how to do: hide'_ ," quoted Mr D's slurry voice from his desk.

"Ah, Dionysus, you're awake," Chiron said cheerfully. "Thank you. Yes, that was how she paraphrased it."

"You're suggesting I pay her a visit?" Percy urged him. "Is it safe?"

"She wouldn't harm you without a cause," the old man assured him. "Be certain to take at least a girl, to put her at ease."

"I'll go tomorrow," the Captain decided. "I'll call an early night, tonight. I'll need my brain working well if I'll talk to _her_ , of all people."

* * *

 **I'd be totally grateful if you can spare a minute to give any suggestions (or tell me if I made some mistake, grammar is not my forte) :)**

 **Have a lovely day!**

 **-B**


	11. Sleepless Night, Vivid Past

**Hello! I come with chapter 11 in between midterm exams (or finals, wherever you people are from?). I hope this can distract you for a few minutes, at least. As a university student who gets really stressed over exams (yes, I'm *such* a fun person to be around when finals/important exams are around), a little bit of advice: don't overdo yourself, take breaks, flunking a subject isn't as important as it seems while studying for it!**

 **Now that's done, I wish you a happy reading! Hope you guys enjoy :)**

 **PJO belongs to Rick.**

* * *

Annabeth woke up at the first light of dawn. Dreams and nightmares had woken her up during a night when sleep had come with much difficulty.

Tossing and turning for a good quarter of hour, she decided enough was enough. She got up, dressed quickly and left to take a walk.

Percy had warned her to avoid walking alone in this... town.

" _Try not to go out on your own," the Captain told them in a subdued tone after dinner. "You look too… high class. You'll get robbed, or worse, killed."_

 _Annabeth was about to retort that she could do whatever she wanted, and needn't a pirate, of all things, to keep her safe. But she swallowed her pride. She saw Jason nod his head reluctantly, and thus, so did she._

Regardless, that had been the night before, and now, under the light of the waking sun, she thought herself perfectly capable of going around the block on her own. Hopefully.

Her doubts resulted unfounded, however. As soon as she laid a foot outside the motel, she found the captain leaning on the railing that faced the beach.

He looked restless, and tired. It was strange, he seemed to have aged overnight.

"What has you awake so early?" he asked calmly, with a small glance her way.

She shrugged and joined him, "What are you worried about?"

He kept facing the sea, but allowed himself a small smile.

"Nothing," he answered peacefully. "Nothing much."

She wondered why he'd lie to her. Of course, they'd known each other for a week at most, and the major part of it had been spent bickering and arguing like petty enemies.

She hoped that would change soon. Over the past few days she'd come to think better of the man standing next to her.

"What are you smiling about?" he asked.

Annabeth felt her cheeks warm against her will.

"Nothing," she smirked. "Nothing much."

"All right," he admitted lightly. "I had that one coming."

He hesitated for a second, then offered her his arm, "Let's take a walk."

"I thought you said this place was dangerous," she replied, imagining her mother's face if she found out her daughter was walking arm in arm with a pirate, unchaperoned.

He shook his head with good humour, "It is, if you're a little prince or a naïve duchess."

"Not for a fearsome pirate?"

He smiled but refrained from answering.

"I used to go on walks with my mother," he said softly, after a few minutes of wandering about. "Whenever I couldn't sleep, she'd get dressed and take me to the streets."

Annabeth didn't know where his sudden desire to share past experiences came from, but found herself wanting more. She felt curious about the childhood of pirates, particularly this one. A feeling like a small warm flame inside of her, edging her to listen to his every word.

"I was very little," he spoke with such fondness, Annabeth felt herself smiling. "My mother was... she _is_ , a wonderful person. Always cheerful, optimistic. Even when times were rough she'd find something to be happy about."

"Some people have the ability to make others feel great, no matter what," she allowed herself to say.

He nodded, "I wish I saw more of her."

She knew a couple of days ago, had the Captain professed to miss his mother, she'd have made some cynical comment about it. She could still hear a part of her brain whispering, _How about me? You took me away from my mother, without a care, without the slightest hesitation_.

"You said the crew were allowed to visit their families once in a while," she reminded him.

He nodded solemnly, "They do, but my mother lives far, little business of ours brings us to those waters. I guess that's why my father chose to find a woman in that town. He could escape there every once in a while, no one would find him."

"I heard..." she stopped to think whether he'd find her question insensitive. Then resolved that even if he was acting nice he _had_ indeed kidnapped her and thus sensitivities were not his privilege. "I heard you grew up in your boat..."

" _Ship_ ," he muttered, aggravated. "It's a _ship_."

She rolled her eyes a bit, "That you grew up in your ship, then. But if you were with your mother...?"

He sighted, "I decided to join my father when I was nine. My mother had finally left my previous step father, she had managed to find a decent job. She didn't need me around as much as before. I had always wanted to travel the seas."

"I bet that made your father proud," she offered. "He was also a… also fond of the sea, was he not?"

Percy smirked, "He was a pirate, you can say it."

She allowed herself a small smile, "All right, he was also a pirate. I do not know whether he was good or bad, but he must have surely rejoiced in your name having become known."

The young man swallowed, as if hesitating to reply with the first thing that popped into his mind, "I hope he was proud. Everything I did, ultimately I did for him. I didn't want to accept it at first."

Percy's factions changed into a melancholy grin, "My friend Grover -you've probably heard his name-, he always claimed that whatever I did to spite either of my uncles was to prove my father I was strong."

The duchess nodded empathically, "Jason sometimes did the same. It must run in the family."

She was afraid to mention his family. It seemed to be a sore subject most of the time, now, however, he was being so open about it.

Luckily, he took no offense, merely smiled.

"Do you miss your friend Grover?" she wondered. Then chastised herself inside her head, _of course_ he missed his friend, what kind of silly question had that been?

"I do," he confirmed. "A lot, but he had his own path to follow. He wanted to go on a search, his whole life he had waited for this opportunity. I couldn't deny it to him. He's like a brother."

"Your genealogy is starting to become quite difficult to follow," she teased.

"And it's about to become even more so," he stated. "We're about to go talk to another relative of mine."

Annabeth's eyes widened, "Right now?"

He nodded.

"You should have said something before!" she chided. "I am not suitable to meet new people. And I thought you said your family wants us dead!"

Percy chuckled at her discomfort, "This woman won't care what you look like, nor, I hope, will she try to have us killed."

"She won't?"

"No," he assured her. "It's not her style to have people murdered, she usually does the dirty work herself. Never believed in letting others take the credit."

Annabeth huffed, "Great, just perfect."

Percy put a hand on the one she had taking hold of his arm.

"She doesn't like men," he said in a soothing undertone. "She thinks we're pointless except, perhaps, to allow the human race to survive. She likes smart people, which is why I just decided I'll be taking you."

"If that cheap compliment is supposed to placate me, Jackson, you clearly have much to learn about me," she scoffed.

He sighed, "Worth a try. She _will_ like you more than me, though. She is a strong, independent woman who needs no significant other to lead her life. At least that's what she told her father when he wanted to marry her off."

"Who is her father?"

"Uncle Zeus, of course," Percy answered. "Isn't he always?"

She chuckled at his joke. Regardless of the first impression Jackson had offered of his… Annabeth thought for a second, cousin. His cousin. Or _another one_ of his cousins, anyway. Whichever the case, anyone who could say that to King Zeus' face was all right by Annabeth's book.

"Let us go meet this woman, then," she said with as much enthusiasm as she could manage.

* * *

 **Next chapter they're meeting her, no worries. I just think Percy and Annabeth loving and trusting each other too much out of the blue is a tad hard to believe.**

 **Any ideas, comments or corrections you can think of, do tell!**

 **Have a lovely day,**

 **-B**


	12. I Don't Mean to Be Picky About My Allies

**Hello, guys! I've been writer-blocked by my brain. Plus my own finals to cope with.**

 **I'm back with this new chapter, though. I hope you enjoy it :)**

 **PJO belongs to Uncle Rick.**

* * *

Percy knocked quietly on the door. He saw the Duchess hide a smirk.

"Where did that fearsome pirate façade go, Captain?" she wondered in a smug voice.

"Hilarious," he muttered. Then added with a tone of acceptance that didn't really reach his heart, "I'd appreciate it if you'd omit this part when retelling the story in the future."

"I will make sure to talk about it in detail, then," she stated.

His face remain stoic, "It's not fear, what I'm feeling. I'm out of my depth here."

"Well, yes," she agreed. "The ocean is quite shallow where we are standing."

He eyed her warily, "I'm not good with talking relatives into things."

The Duchess probably sensed how miserable he felt, for she said, "We are here on a diplomatic mission of sorts, are we not? Diplomacy I can deal with. Remember what you told me? 'Trust goes both ways'. Trust me on this."

Percy nodded. Before he could say something else a girl opened the door. She was around their age, he knew.

"Zoë Nightshade," he smiled winningly -which admittedly was pointless with his cousin's followers-.

"Perseus Jackson," she raised her eyebrow.

"May I introduce you to Duchess Annabeth Chase?"

"I thought you believed yourself above aristocracy?" Zoë replied smoothly.

"Circumstances are sometimes foggy," Annabeth said with ease. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," the girl replied. "What business do you have with Lady Artemis?"

"I'd hope my cousin would be willing to see me regardless of the cause," said Percy.

Zoë was shameless enough to look amused.

"The attack you saw a couple of days back," Annabeth cut down to the point. "It was us, the Blackjack."

That got Zoë's attention real fast.

"We're here to talk about whatever arrangements your Lady and us can come up with," Percy explained. "The more we delay this..."

"The more people will get hurt," the girl finished. "Come on in, I will announce your arrival to Lady Artemis."

* * *

Percy knew it must've been a rather strange sight for the Duchess. Two dozen young maidens discussing what looked like battle plans, chatting idly, sword-fighting in the backyard...

Standing in front of wall covered by maps was a woman, in her mid-twenties.

"My lady," said Zoë. "Percy Jackson is here to see you."

" _Captain_ ," Percy deadpanned under his breath as his cousin turned a hundred and eighty degrees to lock her eyes on him and Annabeth.

Artemis raised an impassive eyebrow, "When I told Chiron of the attack, I hoped he would manage a worthier ally. You will do for now, though."

Percy could think of various comments to make, but decided against all of them when Annabeth threw him a warning look. It'd do them no good to make an enemy of the woman in front of them. As different as she was from her father, Artemis had Zeus' skills, combined with an uncanny amount of power, and understanding of the common folk. She was almost as dangerous as the old King.

"This is Duchess Annabeth Chase," he told her instead, waving a hand at Annabeth's general direction.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," the Duchess offered a small curtsy.

"No need for such pleasantries," said Artemis, and yet Percy could see she was content with the respect shown. "I am Artemis, I lead my handmaidens in what we like to call hunts."

"You are the Hunters? Is it _your_ quests we heard stories of in your father's land, Princess?" Annabeth spoke with what Percy could only describe as building awe.

"I've renounced to that title," Artemis remarked. "I have little to do with my father these days. Regardless," she added thoughtfully. "I won't try to stop him on your behalf."

Percy shook his head, "I didn't intrude to turn you against your father. I'm here solely to discuss more dangerous threats."

"Kronos."

Percy repressed a shiver. Whenever he heard that name he could feel his grandfather's ugly stare.

"He can't go free," he affirmed. "We _must_ hunt him down. But we can't do that without bringing our fathers together."

"I have my doubts Zeus will listen to me if I try to convince him," she stated.

"But he may listen to Jason," Annabeth said firmly. Percy could see the gears in her head turning with whatever little information she had so far. "If it were many of his children who pressed him on this, he _would_ have to see the issue."

Percy snorted, and he had the notion that if Artemis was less proper, she probably would have too.

"You haven't known my father well enough," Artemis shook her head. "He will deny it even when Kronos destroys a city on his face."

"The public will grow scared," Annabeth insisted. "If the royal family -even if not the King or Queen themselves- speak of the threat, they will want protection. At least a mild guard is better warning than nothing at all!"

"We cannot contradict Father openly."

"Spread ideas, then," Annabeth suggested. "Do not officially deny the rumours."

Artemis shrugged, "I doubt my grandfather is strong enough to attack the inner kingdom. Or he is now, at any rate. We _could_ warn my siblings at home, I'll contact my brother as soon as I can. It will buy us some time."

"In the meanwhile," the Duchess turned to Percy. "We must find a way to keep the King away, to give his children time to spread the news."

"We'll sail further," he agreed instantly. "We'll find the way to keep him busy. Help Jason think of a way to sway him, if at least a little."

Artemis nodded, "You mustn't delay any more. Do not underestimate my father, Perseus Jackson. He's ruthless, and revengeful. If he thinks you have done him wrong, he will stop at nothing to bring you down."


	13. Gosh Darn It, Uncle Zeus

**Good evening (or morning, afternoon or night) people! I'm updating in a bit less than a month, which sure, sounds like a lot, but in my unrealistic timing is rather okay.**

 **I hope you're all happy and enjoying the weekend. May Dionysus bless all Saturdays in our lives. Without further ado, enjoy chapter 13 :)**

 **PJO belongs to Uncle Rick!**

* * *

Percy offered the Duchess his arm, once they went back outside, and took her wandering the high grounds of the little peninsula the city was built in. Temperature was building in, and the reasonable heat gave him a sense of comfort he knew to be fake.

"You hadn't met her, then?" he asked. He hated long silences.

"No," she answered. "I mean, perhaps I saw her at some feast or other, back when I was younger. But Prin... Lady Artemis was always a very independent person. Jason avoids speaking of his elder siblings, rumours find their ways, however."

"He doesn't speak of them?" he wondered. "Doesn't he live with them?"

"It is a big castle, theirs is," she explained. She realised her reasoning was feeble, for she added, "He does mention them from time to time. Once he told me she liked travelling, and that his father allowed it because he had a mild favouritism towards his daughters."

"That's not…"

"It is not exactly fake, either," she interrupted. "His daughters never get into as much trouble as his sons. Regardless, it was a thing Jason said. His point of view could be biased. King Zeus was always quite cold towards his younger children."

"My father didn't have many kids," Percy said.

"Or he did not recognise them," she suggested.

He stared at her.

"That was rude," she admitted.

He rolled his eyes, "You're probably right, anyway. But what I meant to say was: I always thought my father loved his… real, I guess? –legitimate, at any rate- kid better. Then once, talking to the bloke, he told me he thought it was the other way around. Maybe Jason feels the same."

She shrugged, "Jason is a good person. He tries to impress his father a lot. I think his Majesty should, at least, throw a glance in his direction, once in a while."

"Trust me when I tell you, our parents aren't very demonstrative with affection."

They talked and walked around until they found themselves on a cliff, overlooking the ocean before them.

Percy relaxed under the Duchess' grip on his arm. She seemed to be debating something inside her head; she made to let go of the arm, perhaps now that they weren't walking anymore. No doubt some ridiculous rule of aristocracy, of the likes, _Never hold onto a man's arm too long. You give the wrong impression_. He remembered Thalia complaining about them when she first joined the crew.

But, apparently, she didn't want to let go. She strengthened her hand on his arm again, which –he reluctantly admitted to himself- he didn't particularly object to.

He saw her blush, and opened his mouth to make some probably unnecessary comment, when he saw something in his peripheral vision.

Percy stiffened, suddenly alert.

"Shit," he mumbled.

Annabeth looked horrified, and -he was sure- she was about to tell him to mind his vocabulary. To spare him the mess, he pointed towards the horizon.

There, a tiny spot to their left was a ship. And one with familiar colours. Then he spotted another one. And another one. No less than seven ships loomed clearly on the panoramic view.

King Zeus' emblem could be distinguished from the furthest distance, it appeared.

"That is not particularly good," she offered.

"You _think_ , love?" he snorted. "C'mon, we have to warn the others!"

There were quite a few things Percy couldn't understand at all. And one of them was his uncle's ungodly timing.

And naval speed, come think of it. After all, they should've had at least a whole two days advantage, if his quick math had been right. Which clearly it hadn't been.

 _Never your strong suit, math_ , he remembered his mother telling him while trying to give him as best an education as possible.

She had been right, as always. He despised numbers, and even more so now that they came with a responsibility.

He grabbed Annabeth's arm and sped their sprint towards the motel.

"Uh," he muttered, seeing the few crew members that sat in the dining hall and bar stools.

He cleared his throat, "Where're the rest of you?"

Nico di Angelo raised his head calmly from the card game he was playing, then shrugged.

"Didn't you give us the night off, yesterday?" the boy replied, as if Percy's question had the most obvious answer ever.

"Lord Zeus has decided to pay us a visit," he announced with annoyance. "Your free time has to be shortened."

Percy saw seven pairs of eyes widen significantly.

"So," he tried again. "Where are the rest of you?"

* * *

Getting the crew together was a nightmare, not even a whole day of idleness and they'd already spread like drops in the ocean.

It took him the best part of the morning, and by the time he had them all on deck, King Zeus' ship was big enough in the horizon to create mild unnerve in his men.

He called a council meeting, which is what he liked to call it when the people who'd been part of his team the longest got together and made decisions as a group, rather than giving in directly into Percy's impulsiveness.

"We can hide and pretend we've gone in some other ship!"

"They'd never believe the Cap' would leave the Blackjack, don't be ridiculous."

"I say we just straight up fight them!"

"They've a whole navy, and we're _one_ ship. How about we _really_ go in another ship?"

"Leave the Blackjack?"

"We can come back for it later! When we're sure they've gone."

"They'd blow it up without second thought," Percy intervened before the crazy talk could go further. "We need to fight but strategically, we only need a couple more hours. Beckendorf said he'd be done by then."

There was a pause in the ramblings, as if each of his comrades was thinking what the hell he meant by _'strategical fighting_ '. Especially considering his diplomacy usually came 'hand by hand with sharp swords and threats thrown _a destra e a sinistra_ , as his cousin had so kindly paraphrased that one time.

He shook his head, and tried to make some sense to his thoughts.

"What I mean is," he begun. "We're few, but we're mighty. I couldn't ask for a better crew, and I have complete faith in every single one of you. I need us to work together, like parts on a machine."

"Strong words but still no plan," Nico pointed out. "We need to protect the ship, but if we all stay around the same place we'll be an easy target."

Percy tried really hard not to glare at his cousin. Such a knack for ruining his morale boost speeches in one so young.

"You mean we should split up? It'll be a mess!" Clarisse grumbled.

"Not split up," Nico shrugged. "Or yes, but more on the idea of rendezvous points. We choose several of them, make our stands there."

"And we should figure out some kind of signal," Percy suggested. "When the ship is movable we'll all board somewhere..."

"Perhaps someone should play messenger," Travis advised. "I could stand with the ship until it is ready and then go around finding all the others. Cap', you can manoeuvre the ship around the island and pick us all up on the last rendezvous point."

"All right, then," Percy agreed. "Now we need a plan to defend the ship."

Clarisse smirked.

* * *

 **What I mentioned about Zeus liking his daughters is solely based on** _ **my**_ **opinion. At the end of BoO (spoiler ahead) he's pissed at Apollo, and yet, when Artemis tries to defend her brother, Dad Zeus doesn't get too mad at her. Also he totally likes Athena more than his sons in the original myths.**

 **I promise next chapter will have some fighting at last. And I'll try to throw in some more Percabeth and Annabeth character development (I've been quite unfair to Annabeth's awesome-ness so far).**


	14. Never Waste an Opportunity

**Ladies, gentlemen and everyone in between, how are you doing? I'm back with some fighting at last! I haven't much to say, except that I hope you enjoy :)**

 **PJO belongs to Uncle Rick.**

* * *

"You will excuse me?" Annabeth frowned. "How exactly are we going to prevent them from destroying the ship? They are armed with canons, and who knows what more!"

"Explosives."

"Why of course," she replied. "And we have, let me think... absolutely nothing outside of our targeted ship that can work as a weapon."

He appeared baffled, "Ammunition isn't always official weaponry. We use whatever we can spare. We can gather huge amounts of scraps, perhaps even some explosives of our own."

"And you will throw them with your arms?"

"Listen here, love," Percy sighed. "This horribly dangerous post is a fort. Or was. Same difference. There's canons that make those in any ship look like a child's toy."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," he admitted. "Perhaps not a toy, but they're better."

"And why am I supposed to go to the last rendezvous point? Do you _still_ not trust me?"

Percy looked at her in the eye, careless of hiding his growing irritation, "It's not a question of trust. You'll be safer the furthest from the ship. It's where we're all boarding the ship to leave."

"I _can_ fight!" she insisted. "My aim leaves little to be desired."

"You've never even loaded a canon, much less shot one."

"At least let me join the second post," she begged. "It's the highest, therefore it is the hardest to hit from the King's ship!"

Percy took this into account. He let out a small exasperated sigh.

"Don't come any closer to the main conflict!" he conceded finally.

She smiled and took his hand in both of hers, "I won't disappoint you!" she said with conviction.

* * *

As soon as she crouched behind a stone wall, Annabeth realised her excitement was met with solemnity, and even in most cases, grave faces.

Her hopes fell, and she felt her heart beat faster.

"You do not give me much confidence," she stated.

"Your King returns us the favour," a voice she didn't identify offered from behind her. "Take our word, this can turn ugly real fast."

She suppressed an uneasy sigh. She couldn't deny to herself that she was disappointed. These were _pirates_. Actual thieves, and –from what they themselves had expressed- some were even murderers. They were supposed to be fearless, cunning, to ignore the odds of failure and gain victory through any means.

Her disappointment quickly turned into anger. She'd given up trying to get away from these people's clutches and had joined them in their pointless escapade only for them to give up at the first sign of danger.

She fumed in silence for what felt like an eternity, until at last, she heard the distant sound of open fire.

The King's float had divided, a couple of ships were coming their way, and she felt both anxious and restless as they drew nearer.

She saw one of her fellow crewmates grab hold of a cannon, fill it with what she hoped was nothing short of pure dynamite, and position himself.

When she heard the first cannon hit the cliff ten metres below her position, she expected the boy to shoot immediately, but he chose to wait.

She heard the cannons hit closer, and closer to their target, and decided enough was enough. If this young lad, whatever his name was, lacked the nerves to do something, she wasn't going to die for it.

She shoved the boy aside, wasting no time in apologies. She thought it would all be very easy: point, light the fuse, BOOM! Enemy was gone. It happened to be quite harder.

For half an instant she was half tempted admit that her foolishness had led her to behave in such an impulsive manner, and with sincere apologies step down. Then her pride imposed itself above her other emotions.

She was a well-bred lady who learned fast and stood her ground. She didn't step down to cowardly pirates who kidnapped her, made an enemy of the king she'd served her whole life and then regretted it so foolishly.

She grabbed somebody's linstock and lit the fuse.

The cannon shot with the force of a hundred horses. It backtracked so quickly, Annabeth barely had time to stumble out of its way. It didn't hit the ship, which continued its attack undisturbed.

She didn't feel put out, on the contrary, she felt powerful. She had power to hurt these men who, in exchange, tried to hurt her and her new friends.

She called for more ammunition –which someone handed her immediately-, copied the way the boy had loaded the weapon earlier, and aimed the cannon better. This time, she heard a satisfying crunch of metal hitting wood, and knew the shot had found its mark.

Easing her eyes to look around herself, she found the rest of her group staring at her with something akin to awe.

"Well, come on people!" she yelled above the noise of the enemy cannons, which by no means had stopped after her small retaliation. "Grab a weapon and return fire! What are you waiting for? The captain needs our help!"

She didn't stop long enough to see if they'd followed her command, she grabbed more ammunition herself from the pile stacked next to them and shot again and again.

She stopped only when someone put a hand on her shoulder when she was about to light what had to be her fifteenth fuse.

"Don't waste any more time on these two ships," a voice she _did_ recognise advised.

Annabeth stood up to face Thalia Grace.

"Were you here the whole time?" she demanded.

"No, I got here just in time to see you go into a rampage. I'm proud of you yelling these men into action, but now it's time to leave."

Annabeth looked around to see that, indeed, the group had clicked back into action. She was relieved. Now that she thought of it, had they ignored her orders, she would've looked pitiful.

As it was, she nodded her head.

"Where to now?"

"Now, we run to give Percy a hand," said Thalia. "Some of the King's troops disembarked in the harbour. Our job is to distract them long enough for our captain to get the ship on the move."

They ran down the hill and stopped short of a pier with a perfect view of the harbour. A view which, Annabeth found out quickly enough, also included two dozen soldiers armed to the teeth.

She tried not to let her concern show, but she realised with trepidation that she hadn't thought it necessary to bring a weapon with herself that morning.

Thalia seemed to have thought of that, she gave Annabeth a long sword she carried on her side.

"It's no knife," the brunette pointed out. "But it'll have to do."

The Duchess took the gleaming metal carefully. It suddenly came to her attention that she might have to kill someone. She wasn't sure if she could do that.

"I do not know…" she started weakly.

"Don't think," Thalia suggested. "The more you think, the more you endanger yourself and the team."

She swallowed, feeling her head spin more than it should.

Thalia took her to the side and grabbed her shoulders.

"Annie," she said in a comforting, but firm voice. "I'm not asking you to assassin these men freely. You saw how armed they are, and you know their intentions. They will kill us without a second thought, and they will lose no sleep for it tonight. I'm asking you to defend yourself, if you don't find it in your heart to willingly inflict pain on another."

Annabeth nodded, she wasn't expected to attack, just defend. It seemed a bit hypocritical to her, having urged the others to attack up in the edge of the cliff. But hand to hand combat? She had no idea how she could lynch someone without feeling moral repercussions.

The others had come closer, apparently waiting for Annabeth's new instructions. She eyed them warily, how could she _order_ them to attack the regiment when she herself was having second thoughts on the matter?

Luckily, Thalia took it from there, "All right men," she said loudly. "We get the bastards quickly so that they won't see us coming. Quickly, all of you!"

And with that, she led them into battle.

* * *

Annabeth's had never seen men engage in such aggressive combat before. She had seen both soldiers and pirates challenge comrades into practise engagements. Never had she seen combatants in a proper duel.

At first, she kept to defence. No one paid her any mind, that with the others being a much more obvious opponent. They both looked and acted much more dangerously than she herself did.

The Duchesses' reservations dissolved to a distant memory the second she saw one of the soldiers struck a sword to the boy whom she'd stolen the cannon from, up on the cliff.

The first thing she could process was his shock. She expected the boy had never really thought of his own mortality until the instant the blue coated man ran a weapon through his abdomen. She guessed in half a second that the wound was fatal. Not even God himself could bring the boy from the brink of death.

From that moment hither she saw red.

She heard an inhumane cry escape her throat, unaware that she herself was making it, and charged into battle. She sparred, and stabbed, and slashed wherever she saw the King's emblem gleam with teasing pride.

She felt unstoppable, she was a machine. She was tired. Tired of the pretence she put up every day. She was no perfect socialite, nor a charming young lady meant for the shallowness of court. Wielding that sword she made the first choice in her life she could call her own. She felt powerful, like she had finally found what she could excel at. She was, as she would find the words afterwards, a warrior.

Ignoring the pangs of pain she felt from her muscles, which clearly were not used to being overexerted in such a foul lasting manner, she brandished her weapon until no foe was left to fight.

Annabeth saw the astonished face of her allies, the cold, expressionless bearing of the dead boy, and then promptly, she blacked out.

* * *

 **Thanks for the reviews! Specially to Fiction is the Truth for bringing into my attention that I accidentally left an asterisk in the last chapter. If you ever see asterisks, that's because I meant to write words in italics, or I somehow wanted to call my attention when I foolproof the writing. I pay terrible attention to detail, and for that I'm sorry! (Please keep letting me know so that I'll fix those :D).**

 **Also, Jeanne Mei (sorry I can't answer privately) "savvy" is used as "get it?", which I've no idea if it's the correct way of saying that, that's just how they use it in Pirates of the Caribbean, which admittedly, might not be a particularly good historical source, but I'm too much of a fan to disagree.**


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